Canucks seem to be impressed by their prospects. Marc Crawford, their coach says "It's not only the strongest group of depth players that we've had, ever. It's probably the best group of first-year players to come in, too." http://www.canoe.ca/Slam030921/nhl_van2-sun.html

They are getting much press, especially by the Canadian media and seem to be a favourite to advance far this year. So far we have to say the Coyotes are getting mixed results. No prospects are making a big impression so far, which surprises me somewhat. I was at least expecting Sjostrom and Taffe to stand out more. Hoping for some big games by some of the rookies tonite against the Canucks. I would expect that it's the last chance for most of them to make mngmnt take notice. After this game, it'll be only 3 preseason games left and I would expect them to start preparing the veterans for the season. They will probably cut down to about 25 or 26 players after tonite. As it's only been exhibition so far, it's been very hard to get a good read on this team. It looks like they are playing Bierk and Boucher on the same nights to get a good comparison. This will be the fast high tempo type game the Coyotes say they want to play. It will really expose any weaknesses in defense and in goal. I wish we could listen to the game.

hbk

09-25-2003, 06:15 PM

Canucks seem to be impressed by their prospects. Marc Crawford, their coach says "It's not only the strongest group of depth players that we've had, ever. It's probably the best group of first-year players to come in, too." http://www.canoe.ca/Slam030921/nhl_van2-sun.html

They are getting much press, especially by the Canadian media and seem to be a favourite to advance far this year. So far we have to say the Coyotes are getting mixed results. No prospects are making a big impression so far, which surprises me somewhat. I was at least expecting Sjostrom and Taffe to stand out more. Hoping for some big games by some of the rookies tonite against the Canucks. I would expect that it's the last chance for most of them to make mngmnt take notice. After this game, it'll be only 3 preseason games left and I would expect them to start preparing the veterans for the season. They will probably cut down to about 25 or 26 players after tonite. As it's only been exhibition so far, it's been very hard to get a good read on this team. It looks like they are playing Bierk and Boucher on the same nights to get a good comparison. This will be the fast high tempo type game the Coyotes say they want to play. It will really expose any weaknesses in defense and in goal. I wish we could listen to the game.

Phoenix's prospects are deep. Not elite, but deep. Our best prospects appear to be at forward. Unfortunately, this is a position where the franchise has its greatest depth. Taffe and Sjostrom are the closest thing we have to prospects who could reach star status. Sjostrom still needs seasoning and Taffe has taken measures to round out his game so he can play on any line rather than just as an emergency callup on a scoring line.

Our weakest position is defense. Our top prospects are by all accounts at least a year away from making the team. Even then, is there a #1 or 2 defenseman among the bunch? We have an abundance of #3 - #6 guys in Spiller, Callahan, Forster, Jones,etc. Only Knyazev looks like he has a shot at rising to an elite category. Again though, that is likely a year or two away.

Best way to acquire superstar prospects is to tank it. For obvious reasons that type of move may cost Phoenix its franchise.

Quite frankly the coverage on the Coyotes camp is brutal. I feel like Pavlov's dog salivating over every two sentence scrap of information the local media scribes deem us fans worthy enough of receiving. I wouldn't worry too much about a lack of hype. I can understand the frustration but keep in mind we did win the prospect tournament.

Didn't look like a garbage goal on the highligts. He stepped up to intercept an outlet pass and drilled a nice quick shot into the net. Huge smile on his face.

eye

09-26-2003, 10:44 AM

Phoenix's prospects are deep. Not elite, but deep. Our best prospects appear to be at forward. Unfortunately, this is a position where the franchise has its greatest depth. Taffe and Sjostrom are the closest thing we have to prospects who could reach star status. Sjostrom still needs seasoning and Taffe has taken measures to round out his game so he can play on any line rather than just as an emergency callup on a scoring line.

Our weakest position is defense. Our top prospects are by all accounts at least a year away from making the team. Even then, is there a #1 or 2 defenseman among the bunch? We have an abundance of #3 - #6 guys in Spiller, Callahan, Forster, Jones,etc. Only Knyazev looks like he has a shot at rising to an elite category. Again though, that is likely a year or two away.

Best way to acquire superstar prospects is to tank it. For obvious reasons that type of move may cost Phoenix its franchise.

Quite frankly the coverage on the Coyotes camp is brutal. I feel like Pavlov's dog salivating over every two sentence scrap of information the local media scribes deem us fans worthy enough of receiving. I wouldn't worry too much about a lack of hype. I can understand the frustration but keep in mind we did win the prospect tournament.

Love your last paragraph hbk. When I was critical of camp coverage I was also referring to the press who have been non-existent in covering this team. It doesn't even sound like they travel with the team and just write their short articles based on NHL.com reports or something. I'm so used to hockey being the number one sport in town so I do apologize to any fans that took my posts personally. hbk, a pro-scout buddy of mine is supposed to email his thoughts to me on last nights game. I will share his views when I get his message. He has seen the team twice.

Defense: Tanabe led all Coyotes players in ice time with 23:38 minutes played and was voted the game’s first star by the local media.

Forwards: Coyotes left wing Jan Hrdina led all Phoenix forwards in minutes played with 20:16. Hrdina had 25 total shifts during Thursday night’s game and he assisted on Kolanos’ second period goal.

Faceoffs: The Coyotes had success taking faceoffs on Thursday night winning 19 of the 34 total faceoffs taken in the game for a success rate of 64.0%. Center Mike Sillinger won 10 of 14 faceoffs to lead all Coyotes players. Chris Gratton won 6 of 10 faceoffs and Krystofer Kolanos won 7 of the 13 draws he took during the game.

These are the dividends from the trades that we were looking for. Shows some promise for the upcomming season. We are depending on these kinds of efforts.

eye

09-26-2003, 08:14 PM

Love your last paragraph hbk. When I was critical of camp coverage I was also referring to the press who have been non-existent in covering this team. It doesn't even sound like they travel with the team and just write their short articles based on NHL.com reports or something. I'm so used to hockey being the number one sport in town so I do apologize to any fans that took my posts personally. hbk, a pro-scout buddy of mine is supposed to email his thoughts to me on last nights game. I will share his views when I get his message. He has seen the team twice.

As promised, here is a recap of the email I just received on the last 2 exhibition games. It's not as detailed as I would have liked but it's better than a kick in the a"". He only commented on Burke and Knayzev vs San Jose as I only emailed him yesterday to comment on the Canucks game but I asked for his take on these two players from the night before as well.

He said the Canucks game was not a good game from a fans perspective and that the locals were noticably frustrated. Tight checking with a handful of prospects playing for both teams. He was not overly impressed by the Canucks prospects in this game saying they were outmatched by the Coyotes prospects which in his opinion was the difference in this game. He saw Kesler, Grennier and Federov playing in Manitoba this year.

Goalies; he liked Burke and thought he played well in Portland. Felt Burke would like to have 1 of the 3 goals scored on him back but overall was impressed by him for this time of the year. Against the Canucks it was difficult for him to evaluate Bierk who gave up 0 goals on just 7 shots only 2 of which were testers. He said he moved well and covered a lot of net. Boucher allowed 1 breakaway goal by Cooke that he felt Boucher misplayed but that he came back to make a couple of good saves. He sees Bierk as the more suitable backup to Burke if Phoenix could find a taker for Boosh or if someone would claim him off waivers. He said that Bierk with less pro playing time due to injuries is coming into his own and is already as good as the more experienced Boucher and will only get better. He felt Bierk would be a quality back up while Boosh was overpriced as a backup goalie in this years NHL financial climate.

Defense; he rated our D in this game only as follows; Tanabe, Ossi, Schutte, Suchy, Hulse, Spiller from 1-6. He felt Tanabe was playing with more confidence and jump and played a lot of pp time. He thought he was matched up well with Ossi. He was equally impressed by how well Suchy and Schutte played together and felt that Hulse and Spiller played well together to. He said the defense controlled the game which I found suprising to be honest with you considering some of the power forwards that dressed for the Canucks last night and how hard I have been on them this summer. He described Spiller as a cross between Mike Wilson and Ossi saying he has to get more physical and develop more patience with the puck but that he should challenge for a spot in a year or two. He added that the forwards helped out and backchecked hard all night. From the San Jose game he admitted that Knayzev did not catch his attention a great deal and that he felt he may be a ways off from becoming a serious threat to crack the Coyotes blueline. He said he wasn't really watching for him but that was the imrpession he left the game with.

Forwards; felt that Kolanos was our best and most dangerous forward. Said he was the only forward that showed any poise with the puck and the ability to buy time and space as he manouvered with the puck. Scored a nice goal on this type of play. He liked Hrdina and felt most of the other veterans just blended in and worked hard. He felt Taffe got involved more this year from the last time he saw him but showed little offense last night. He said that Sjostrom has speed but he's not convinced he knows how to use it yet. He felt he was still 2 years away from challenging for an NHL spot. He said Sjostrom barely played as noted by the number of shifts he got. He didn't think that Westrum would play any serious time at the NHL level but felt he was a good AHL player that could fill in if called upon because he was a good checker with a good feel for the game.

He said overall a well deserved win by the Coyotes who shut the Canucks down with hard work and a good 2 way effort.

ulf

09-26-2003, 09:17 PM

thx to you and your friend eye a good read.

Gwyddbwyll

09-28-2003, 05:48 AM

Thanks for passing it on eye.. good read. Im pleased to see Tanabe and Ossi reportedly playing well together.

As for the big forwards from Vancouver, their fans were saying the likes of Bertuzzi were just disinterested in a pre-season game.. lets see if we can shut them down in the the reg. season too.

eye

09-28-2003, 09:16 AM

Thanks for passing it on eye.. good read. Im pleased to see Tanabe and Ossi reportedly playing well together.

As for the big forwards from Vancouver, their fans were saying the likes of Bertuzzi were just disinterested in a pre-season game.. lets see if we can shut them down in the the reg. season too.

You wouldn't think that from the 2 interviews Betuzzi gave Sprotsnet the last 2 nights. Bertuzzi seemed quite upset at his teams performance. What I liked about this game report was the Ossi Tanabe combo plus all the accolades about Kolanos. Let's hope he stays healthy. He could finally develop into that legit #1 line type player that we sorely lack. Also, stevex I liked the fact our prospects outplayed theirs considering all the hype the Canucks prospects have been getting.